WHAT NEXT FOR ZAMBIA?
Ichalo nabashitisha! Naba goleka!
Saturday 11th March, 2023
1. First, they gave TAX HOLIDAYS and other tax incentives to mining conglomerates at the expense of the poor Zambians. We are losing over $3 billion per year in tax holidays and illicit financial flows from the mining sector alone.
We could have been raising up to $1billion dollars annually just from mining taxes alone; money that we could be injecting in the economy to create jobs, create business opportunities for our women and youths and help ease the high cost of living which is currently crushing our people, however President Hakainde SAMMY Hichilema would rather satisfy the needs of the white foreigners and squeeze our own indigenous SMEs out of business through high taxes, exorbitant levies, non-payment of arrears, lack of incentives and by giving all big contracts to foreign companies even for jobs that our own local businesses can easily do.
2. Second, they gave away our economic sovereignty to the IMF and World Bank over a meagre $1.3 billion loan that has come with stringent adverse austerity conditionalities that have heavily contributed to the high cost of living and the worsening poverty and economic malaise in our country. This is money that government could have easily raised by simply taxing the mines fairly but, as usual, ba SAMMY would rather please bazungu than protect the interests of Zambians whom he was elected to serve.
What have we gotten from the IMF loan other than high fuel prices, high electricity tariffs, high electricity connection fees, reduced government expenditure on social sectors such as education, health, etc, which has to some extent contributed to the chronic shortages of medicines and medical supplies in government clinics and hospitals; and shortages of teaching and learning materials in government schools among other challenges facing the Zambian people.
3. When we thought we had seen enough of the UPND Government’s treachery, hypocrisy and unpatriotism, through the awarding of corrupt deals such as the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway, the fertiliser scam, the MoU they signed with their puppet masters in which they have given away our lithium and other minerals, the Yakumbuyo Campaigns being tolerated by our leaders, the scandals involving the illegal mining of sugilite, manganese and other minerals by UPND Officials, BOOM, we have just been told they have now given away 20,000 hectares of our land to KENYAN farmers!
Here is the catch, Kenya will use our own land to grow their maize and other crops which they will then EXPORT back to Kenya. Does this really make any sense?
With IMF, further pushing for the privatisation of our state owned enterprises such as ZESCO, INDENI and others through what they are euphemistically calling ‘Restructuring’ of our government parastatals, what exactly will Zambia and Zambians remain with by the time President Hakainde SAMMY Hichilema and his New DOOM Government leave office?
Zambia twasebana. Ba punka nabashitisha ichalo.
Issued by;
Antonio Mourinho Mwanza
Patriotic Front